Tracking Reference with RefTracker

Heather CloseReference and Research Services CoordinatorAlberta Legislature Library

Reference Service

• 8 Librarians, 8 technicians scheduled for regular reference desk shifts

• Each shift is a half-day• 1-3 shifts per week• At the desk:

Shared email accountthrough Outlook Web App Shared phone line

The way we were….

Altarama’s RefTracker

• A web-based reference request management and tracking software system Integrated workflow KnowledgeBase DeskStats - An electronic tally sheet

RefTracker

DeskStats Module

Details recorded for each question

• Staff member who answered the question• Client category• Location at which the service was provided• How the question arrived – email, in-person, phone• Date and time question was received• Length of time spent in responding to the question• Type of question answered• Subject matter• Resources used to answer the question• Comments

March 2010 June 2014Subjects not defined Taxonomy

24 Client categories 13 Client categories

7 Request Groups 10 Request Types

1 Request Groups 4 Request Types

19 Resource categories 4 Resource categories

Taxonomy

Not Applica

ble

Legisla

tive Pro

cess a

nd Affairs

Govern

ment a

nd Politics

Current a

nd Historic

al Ev

ents

Health

Law, Ju

stice

and Righ

ts

Socie

ty an

d Culture

Economics

and Fi

nance

Genera

l Refe

rence

and Reso

urces

Educati

on and Tr

aining

Envir

onment

Municipal

Affairs

Energ

y

Business

, Industr

y and Tr

ade

Employm

ent a

nd Labour

Transp

ortation

Informati

on and Communica

tions

Aboriginal

Affairs

Intergo

vern

mental

Affairs

Infrastr

ucture

Touris

m, Park

s and Recr

eation

Agricu

lture

Scien

ce an

d Tech

nology0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

% of Time Spent on Requests by SubjectJanuary-August 2014

Client Categories (% of total questions in 2013)Reporting RefTracker

Members & LAO (50.5%)

• 18 different client categories

• Request from caucus staff accounts for more questions than all others combined

Caucus (26.3%)Constituency Office (2.5%)Lieutenant Governor and Staff (0.3%)Members and Staff (6.5%)Office of the Speaker (3.1%)Independent Legislative Offices – AB (0.6%)LAO – Committee Research (1.6%)LAO – Communication Services (1.4%)LAO – FMAS (0.4%)LAO – Hansard (0.7%)LAO – House Services (0.9%)LAO – HRS (0.1%)LAO – ITS (0.3%)LAO – Legislature Library (0.7%)LAO – Parliamentary Counsel (3.1%)LAO – Sergeant-at-Arms (0.3%)LAO – VCSS (2.2%)Office of the Clerk (0.6%)

Alberta Government (12.1%) Gov – AB (12.1%)Media (1.7%) Media (1.7%)Public (32.9%)

APLIC (4.0%)Govts and Legislatures – Other (0.6%)Libraries – Other (2.6%)Public (25.7%)

Types of Requests

Categorize requests at two levels:

• Request Groups determine the broad categories of requests

Request types allow these categories to be broken down into more specific areas

Request Groups & Types 2010• Reference

– Research– Directional– Material– Referral

• Circulation Transactions– Circulation

• Equipment– Photocopier– PAC Computer / Printer– Microform Reader/Printers– Other Equipment

• Document Delivery

– ILL Request – SPAL Request– NBIL Request– AV Reproduction– Other Document Delivery

• Library Policy & Services– Policy & Services

• Orientation / Tour– Orientation / Tour– PSO Tour– SATL Tour

• Feedback – Services– Collections

2014 Review

• Debra G. Warner, “A New Classification for Reference Statistics,” Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 1 (Fall 2001): pp. 51-55.

• Deborah B. Henry and Tina M. Neville, “Testing Classification Systems for Reference Questions,” Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol. 47, no. 4, (Summer 2008): pp. 364-373.

Request Groups & Types 2014

Non-resource Based

• Directional / Administrative• Do not require a resource to answer• May be about policy or services • Circulation [to reflect the interaction with client]• Document delivery, acquisition, or audio-visual

requests that are referred / forwarded to staff/unit responsible

• Booking equipment

Skill-based

• Ready Reference / Technical• Answer is always the same• May be answered by well-developed set of

directions or reference file• Trouble-shooting equipment or resources• Planned tours including prep time

Strategy-based

• Require the formulation of a strategy to locate an answer

• May require selection of resources

• May require individualized subject approach

• May require provision of instruction and guidance

Consultation• Requires selection of materials, research

recommendations or formatted reports• Specialized orientation sessions or tours (other

than planned tours which have a standard outline and as such are Skill-based)

• May require consultation with subject experts or other jurisdictions

• This level of service is generally provided to primary clients only

Training and Implementation

• April-May 2014 – Training– Shared proposed categories and background

readings– Reviewed and discussed at reference meetings– Staff completed a brief exercise:

• Assign a request type with reasoning and/or comments to 14 sample questions

• June 2014 – Implementation• Ongoing:– Applying categories to raw data retroactively

Going Forward

• Statistics that are:Aligned with management’s strategic prioritiesAvailable in real-time; readily available in usable formTransparentMeaningful

• Statistics gathering is:Routine Consistent Efficient

Thank You!

Heather CloseReference and Research Services CoordinatorAlberta Legislature Library